I am not, on the whole, a big fan of comic-book movies. I don't hate them--more often than not the husband eventually brings them home from the DVD store and we watch them--but I have no interest in seeking them out. Some I've quite liked, like Iron Man. For the most part, though, I don't have any special must-see feeling about comic-book movies. I feel about them the way I feel about any movies--some are good, most are adequate, and too many are truly wretched. They don't give me that "comic book feeling" if you know what I mean.
On the other hand, animated movies based on comic books? Those I love. Those I will go out of my way to see.
While some of this may have to do with the medium simply being closer to the original, I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that comic book movies are big business, which means that they have to conform to movie norms in additional to comic-book norms. And if there's a conflict, well, it's the comic-book norm that loses out.
There's also the simplification issue--that comic books, going on for years and years, tend to build up a significant amount of backstory which may or may not be significant in a given storyline. The movie version of a hero tends to be a relatively stripped-down version, sometimes to the point of being unrecognizable. (You'd think that an animated movie would have the same issues, but for some reason it's less bothersome there.)
I think, though, that the main thing is that an animated movie doesn't mind being a comic-book movie. A live-action film often seems vaguely embarrassed about it.
1 comment:
>>The movie version of a hero tends to be a relatively stripped-down version, sometimes to the point of being unrecognizable.<<
Hear, hear! I love the direct-to-video animated films as well. And while they aren't totally exempt from the "stripped-down" rule, their depictions the heroes (and villains) are definitely closer to the comics than any live-action version that comes to mind.
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